Christopher Wordsworth (9 June 1774 – 2 February 1846) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

divine Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine< ...

and scholar.

Life

Born in

Cockermouth Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England, so named because it is at the confluence of the River Cocker as it flows into the River Derwent. The mid-2010 census estimates state that Cocke ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

, he was the youngest brother of the poet

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

, and was educated at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, where he became a fellow in 1798. Twelve years later he received the degree of DD. He took holy orders, and obtained successive preferments through the patronage of

Charles Manners-Sutton Charles Manners-Sutton (17 February 1755 – 21 July 1828; called Charles Manners before 1762) was a bishop in the Church of England who served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1805 to 1828. Life Manners-Sutton was the fourth son of Lord G ...

Bishop of Norwich The Bishop of Norwich is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The bishop of Norwich is Graham Usher. The see is in the ...

, afterwards (1805)

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

, to whose son

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

(afterwards

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

, and

Viscount Canterbury Viscount Canterbury, of the City of Canterbury, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1835 for the Tory (political faction), Tory politician Charles Manners-Sutton, 1st Viscount Canterbury, Sir Charles Manners-Sutt ...

) he had been tutor. He had in 1802 attracted attention by his defence of

Granville Sharp Granville Sharp (10 November 1735 – 6 July 1813) was one of the first British campaigners for the abolition of the slave trade. He also involved himself in trying to correct other social injustices. Sharp formulated the plan to settle black ...

's then novel canon "on the uses of the definitive article" in

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

textual criticism. In 1810 he published an Ecclesiastical Biography in 6 volumes. On the death of Bishop Mansel, in 1820, he was elected Master of Trinity, and retained that position till 1841, when he resigned. He is regarded as the father of the modern "classical tripos," since he had, as vice-chancellor, originated in 1821 a proposal for a public examination in classics and divinity, which, though then rejected, bore fruit in 1822. Otherwise his mastership was undistinguished, and he was not a popular head with the college. He died on 2 February 1846, at

Buxted Buxted is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex in England. The parish is situated on the Weald, north of Uckfield; the settlements of Five Ash Down, Heron's Ghyll and High Hurstwood are included within its boundarie ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

.GRO Register of Deaths: MAR 1846 VII 313 UCKFIELD – Christopher Wordsworth In his ''Who wrote

Ikon Basilike The ''Eikon Basilike'' (Greek: Εἰκὼν Βασιλική, the "Royal Portrait"), ''The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in His Solitudes and Sufferings'', is a purported spiritual autobiography attributed to King Charles I of England. ...

?'' (1824), and in other writings, he advocated the claims of

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

to its authorship; and in 1836 he published, in 4 volumes, a work of ''Christian Institutes'', selected from English divines. In 1804 he married Priscilla Lloyd (d. 1815), a sister of both

Anna Braithwaite Anna Braithwaite (born Anna Lloyd; 27 December 1788 – 18 December 1859) was a prominent English Quaker minister. She visited the United States three times in an effort to avoid the schism created by the views of Elias Hicks. Life Anna Lloyd was ...

and

Charles Lamb Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his ''Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book ''Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764–18 ...

's friend Charles Lloyd; they had three sons:

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

, and

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

Notes

References

* *

External links

The Master of Trinity
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wordsworth, Christopher 1774 births 1846 deaths People from Cockermouth Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Masters of Trinity College, Cambridge 19th-century English Anglican priests Vice-Chancellors of the University of Cambridge